When I needed a pivotal moment in recent history for my novel the fate of the Titanic seemed an obvious choice. The ship which sailed carrying a thousand hopes and dreams which were so cruelly dashed in that brave new century has entered legend. A metophor almost: No matter how high we build, how fast we travel, or what luxuries we chose to wrap around ourselves, against the forces of Mother Nature, we are as insignificant as the lowest parasitic insect. We're no different to any other form of life existing on this beautiful eden which can sometimes be so savage.
Except this life form likes to rationalise. If we can't rationalise, we tell each other stories. And what stories we tell, about the ship of dreams. As I discovered during research (yes I went there!) because there were two immediate enquiries into the tragedy, a wealth of immediate eye witness accounts is already in the public domain. Being human of course, it's all too easy for us to imagine what thoughts ran through the survivors' minds, and those who lost their lives. Being human, we began to weave whole new events and characters into an already packed drama. Books films and now websites featuring the Titanic are as many and varied as the passengers themselves.
A Ripple in Time is only one of many, my characters are fictional of course - time travel isn't really possible! But the events they experience on board the Titanic are closely based on fact: What actually happened on that fateful day reverberates with more passion and emotion than any fictional work could hope to capture. To Rhyllann's horror, Wren explains how events unfold as though he's recounting a history lesson.
Perhaps that is the Titanic's greatest legacy: A warning from history never to underestimate nature's power.
A Ripple in Time is available in ebook format - try a sample now:
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